First article published and featured

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   Leeburrowsposted 13 months ago

   Hi everyone, I'm glad to say one of my articles has been published and featured. After two failed attempts on different topics, I started fresh and familiarised myself with the hubpages site, spent a few hours reading the forum questions and answers here which I found most useful when it came to constructing my third article. It took some getting used to the layout and design but I think I've gotten the hang of it, sort of!
   
   Now I can't wait to write my next article, my main question is, should I continue writing similar content and follow the same lines as this until I feel more comfortable to branch out onto different topics? Or will my profile benefit from having a range of different topics? I mostly want to develop a portfolio here and showcase my work, but I'd like to know if there are any improvements or specific path I should follow, any tips or suggestions welcome, here's a link to my first article:
   https://discover.hubpages.com/travel/pl … ardiffvale
   
   Thanks!

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      Justine Guiaoposted 13 months agoin reply to this

      First of, congratulations for such milestone. It really does fell great when our first article gets published anf featured.
      
      As per your questions, I think, you are the one who can answer those questions. I might be unsure of the possible answers but you already know fror sure.

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         Leeburrowsposted 13 months agoin reply to this

         Thanks Justine! It is a great feeling and a big motivation to keep writing, I think I will stick to similar topics but looking forward to keeping options open and maybe writing about something a bit different as well. Thanks for the advice!

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      WriterJanisposted 13 months agoin reply to this

      Congratulations! What a great feeling.
      Just write what feels good to you. Some writers here stick to certain topics while others branch out all over. It's whatever you feel comfortable with.

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         Leeburrowsposted 13 months agoin reply to this

         Thanks Janis! Yes a great feeling and to finally get the hang of things on this site! That seems to be the best advice from what you and others have mentioned, good to know it is personal choice and not a better idea to do one or the other, I will likely stick to a niche but branch out once and a while, or see how it goes over the next few months!

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      Miebakagh57posted 13 months agoin reply to this

      Congratulations! The chose is yours. Stick to a specific niche for a few months. Then...

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         Leeburrowsposted 13 months agoin reply to this

         Thanks!! That seems like the best idea that everyone has agreed, I think I'll do just that!

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            Miebakagh57posted 13 months agoin reply to this

            You're welcome.

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      Pollyanna Jonesposted 13 months agoin reply to this

      Congratulations! It's an exciting time for you for certain, and a big learning opportunity. Plenty of guides in here and people to try to help. It's a great community.
      
      As for topics, write what you enjoy and don't worry too much about sticking to a niche. HubPages will pick out much of your work anyway and place it in their niche sites. So it gets sorted into the correct place that way.

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         Leeburrowsposted 13 months agoin reply to this

         Thanks Pollyanna that's much appreciated! I am very excited to get started and definitely learning a lot from others here, I really enjoyed your articles around Wales! Very inspiring and well written, I'll be sure to take your advice on board and hopefully shouldn't be a problem figuring out what to write about next!

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      Pari bilalposted 13 months agoin reply to this

      Congratulations! I am familiar with the feeling of excitement because I just checked and my first article is also published.

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         Leeburrowsposted 13 months agoin reply to this

         Thanks Pari, that's great news! Yes it's a great feeling! I hope we can both continue to publish articles here with success.

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            Pari bilalposted 13 months agoin reply to this

            Agreed. Good luck. I am anxious to see more well-featured articles from your side.

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      Amara Hassanposted 13 months agoin reply to this

      Congrats Leeburrows. Happy for you, and I wish you luck. Welcome to HubPages. :-)

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         Leeburrowsposted 13 months agoin reply to this

         Thanks Amara! That is kind of you, much appreciated.

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      Jan Stepanposted 13 months agoin reply to this

      Lovely! Big congratulations! It's a great start, and now you know what's required of you to get your articles published.
      
      Regarding the topics you write about – it doesn't matter as long as you write about the things you have a lot of knowledge about. Credibility is essential in building a solid reader base and being viewed as a relevant source of information.
      
      Best of luck!
      More milestones are waiting for you if you keep up the fine work.

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         Leeburrowsposted 13 months agoin reply to this

         Thanks Jan! It does feel much better now I know a bit more about how to write for HP. I'm learning a lot from the featured articles already on the platform and realised straight away some of the mistakes I made, regarding the layout etc, I'm hoping I can build credibility over time here, it's something I've found difficult to get off the ground when building my own website!
         
         Thanks for the advice and words of encouragement, it's much appreciated.

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   theraggededgeposted 13 months ago

   Congratulations, Lee.
   
   Those places are practically on our doorstep I like your photos.
   
   It's up to you what you do next. Follow your interests and see what garners the most attention.
   
   Good luck.

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      Leeburrowsposted 13 months agoin reply to this

      Thanks!! I'm glad you like the photos, that's something I've no shortage of from years of exploring with a camera!
      
      Great advice, I think I will do just that and see how it goes, and that is surprising to hear, we're pretty much neighbours then. Haha!

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   Bills Placeposted 13 months ago

   Congradulations!
   
   As others have said, the option is 100% on the writer of course. I started out with the Spray and Pray method, then saw what stuck and went from there. However, the downside to this method is that trends change over time so what brought in tons of traffic in 2012, doesn't bring in any traffic now.
   
   If you're like me and get bored writing about the same topic for long periods, my newest approach could be interesting for you. I picked a few niches based partly on what I find interesting, and what has a growing trend. Next, I planned out a list of topic ideas to turn it into a "series".
   
   I've started my Fundraising How To series already, and have started putting together ideas for other niche series.

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      Leeburrowsposted 13 months agoin reply to this

      Thanks Bill, that's great to hear your thoughts, considering you've been writing here for a long time I very much value your opinion!
      
      That's a really good idea to follow a series, I've thought about doing that and sort of following the same concept as my last article in another one I've just written, so I hope that also gets published/featured.
      
      Looks like I've got much to learn, and plenty of writing to do which I can't wait for!
      
      I love your fundraiser series of articles, after a quick scan through its given me some great inspiration. I will have to keep a look out on your page in the future.
      
      Thanks again! Best wishes.

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         Miebakagh57posted 13 months agoin reply to this

         Lee, you're on course.

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   AliciaCposted 13 months ago

   I enjoyed reading your article very much. My family lived in Cardiff (specifically in Rhiwbina) when my father got a new job in Canada when I was fourteen. I recognized some of the sites that you described in your article, but the others were new to me. I was glad to learn about them.

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      theraggededgeposted 13 months agoin reply to this

      Did you? That's amazing... just a few minutes from my mother's in Whitchurch.

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         AliciaCposted 13 months agoin reply to this

         We went to Whitchurch at times!

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      Leeburrowsposted 13 months agoin reply to this

      Thanks Alicia, I'm really glad you enjoyed the article, and that's nice to hear! I also have some family in Rhiwbina, sounds like a big change moving from there to Canada! I've always lived around and Cardiff and the Vale, it's quite surprising how many of these areas are not very well known. I'm glad the ones you're familiar with could bring back some memories!

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         Amara Hassanposted 13 months agoin reply to this

         I just checked your articles, and as Alicia said, they are good and photos are beautiful.
         
         And as far as niche is concerned, its always a good idea to find niche, but you can write about anything or everything here on HP.
         
         Your high quality articles will be moved to their respective niche sites by HP. I also write about diverse topics. So enjoy writing, and best of luck. I hope it will be helpful.

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   paolaenergyaposted 13 months ago

   Hi Lee, I loved your hub about foraging, of course I am biased because I am a forager, too! The most wonderful time of the year is approaching and, no, it's not Christmas but mushroom season! If you fancy writing about it, you can publish a guide about mushrooms that you can find in the autumn months, of course giving the customary safety guidelines. Keep up the good work!

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      Miebakagh57posted 13 months agoin reply to this

      Mushrooms? Delicious stuffs indeed. I'll like to read the guide myself. Thanks.

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         paolaenergyaposted 13 months agoin reply to this

         Right? Lee, you already have a captive audience, we are ready!

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   Leeburrowsposted 13 months ago

   Thanks all!
   
   It's very encouraging to keep writing here, seeing how helpful the community is, and being able to improve over time by learning from others is what makes this site more useful than similar platforms for me. It's often difficult to improve in anything without a community and some guidance. I appreciate the feedback and all suggestions. Can't wait to get stuck in!

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   Leeburrowsposted 13 months ago

   Paolaenergya, great idea. I could definitely write a few articles about mushrooms, I've been thinking about one for Autumn, it's been a great year so far and I've got no shortage of fungi photos!
   
   I'm not sure which category to write it for. Do you think I should keep it food based, educational, or place it in hobbies? Thanks again for the helpful feedback!

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      theraggededgeposted 13 months agoin reply to this

      Do them all! There're at least three articles right there.

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         Leeburrowsposted 13 months agoin reply to this

         Thanks great idea! I've just had one featured in Education and Science, very happy with that and unexpected on my first submission! It's probably the area I feel most comfortable writing, so I'll continue with a few more about fungi over the next few weeks!

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   paolaenergyaposted 13 months ago

   Hi Lee, I would probably start by searching the most frequently asked questions on Google about wild mushrooms and take it from there, plenty of material to write about! We'll be reading it for sure!

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      Leeburrowsposted 13 months agoin reply to this

      Thanks! Searching questions/answers on Google was a big help when writing my last article. There was a few things that skipped my mind, good to see the top questions and work from them. I've just published one about fungi but I'm hoping to do a few more, the next maybe focusing on edible mushrooms!

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         paolaenergyaposted 13 months agoin reply to this

         Looking forward to reading your next article about mushrooms! Happy to contribute a quote if it helps, maybe recipe suggestions?

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            Leeburrowsposted 13 months agoin reply to this

            Thanks Paola! That sounds great, especially recipe suggestions which are always helpful. I'll have to read up and figure out the best way to format recipe lists on here, that's something I was wondering!

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   paolaenergyaposted 13 months ago

   Ok! In the meantime you can look at Delishably about formatting. I have included recipe suggestions in articles before without going too much into detail, see what works best for you.

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